Mass. casino proposal tabled by House

BOSTON – Gov. Deval L. Patrick’s proposal to license three resort casinos in Massachusetts was tabled by the House of Representatives, which voted 106 to 48 to send the measure to a study committee, according to the Associated Press.
“The big-money special interests lost and the people of Massachusetts won,” House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi, D-Boston, said in a statement, adding that “the cost of creating a casino culture is too high.” But union leader Robert Haynes, Massachusetts president of the AFL-CIO, told reporters “I’m profoundly disappointed in the vote and I’m profoundly disappointed in the process. We need jobs.”
Patrick, in New York on personal business, was unavailable for comment. But in a statement issued by spokesman Kyle Sullivan, he thanked casino-plan supporters and said he looked forward to working with legislative leaders on “our comprehensive jobs-creation and economic-development agenda.”
Having killed the casino measure – at least for this year – House lawmakers will be under pressure to come up with alternate methods of generating new revenue. The bill would have authorized three casinos, at sites across the state, that Patrick has said would generate $600 million in licensing fees, $400 million in annual tax revenue and 20,000 permanent jobs.
Additional information about the Mass. General Court, including the status of pending legislation, is available at www.mass.gov/legis. News and information from the governor’s office can be found at www.mass.gov.